Turbine type hydraulic coupling



y 6, 1947- I e. c. FIELDS 2,420,071

TURBINE TYPE HYDRAULIC COUPLING FiledJan. 11, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1llllllllllll'lllll 1 lull llllllllllll'i uvvmmfi GEMYGE C. FZELDJ ii I4% May 6, 1947. G, c, H LDS 2,420,071

TURBINE TYPE HYDRAULIC COUPLING Filed Jan. 11, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2nvmvron EOIGE 6. FIELDS AT ORNEY maintenance attention.

' Patented May e, 1941 umlrso srA'rss PATENT OFFICE;

George c. Fields; Wilmette, m, assignor to Solar corporation, Milwaukee,Wis, a corporation of Delaware Application January 11, 1945, Serial No.572,338

This invention relates to fluid drive couplings of the so-calledFottinger or turbine type, and the main object is to provide anextremely simple, practical and efllcient hydraulic drive unit fortransmitting power from a driving member to a driven member. A furtherobject is to provide a hydraulic coupling that is especially economicalin manufacture and which is virtually fool- 5 Claims. (c rca-54$ V r iz' ii, and this flange has one or more notches l8,

' engaged by tabs or lugs l9, spot welded to the inproof in operation,whereby it particularly adapts itself to use in motor scooters, powermowers, and as power transmitters for small utilitymotors for otherpurposes where high priced transmission units are impractical and wherethe equipment may not always receive expert mechanical or Still furtherand more specific objects will be disclosed in the course of thefollowing specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of my improved fluid drive coupling, showing itas mounted on a motor shaft, and with the upper half in verticaldiametrical section to illustrate the internal con- Fig. 5 is a detailsection on line 5-5 in Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings more particularly and by reference charactersA designates an engine or motor from which projects a power shaft 8.This shaft has a reduced end portion 1 that terminates at a shoulder 8,and an end part of the portion 1 is threaded as at 9. The fluidcoupling, designated generally as B, includes a. housing made up of twohalf sections or shells Ill and H. These shells peripherally overlap atI 2 where they may be sweated, welded or otherwise permanently fastenedand sealed together, as there will be little or no occasion forseparating them after the unit has once been assembled and ready foruse. The shell H is of cours supported by and mounted for rotation withthe section Ill.

The casing section Ill is supported against the outer surface of aV-belt pulley l3, the latter having "an elongated hub sleeve it whichprojects into the fluid coupling axially about the shaft portion 1, andthe part of the sleeve ll adjacent the pulley is threaded, as at l5, toreceive a nut l6. Thisnut is preferably provided with a, flange ner faceof cup section Ill, to temporarily hold the nut in place and prevent itfrom turning, with respect to the casing, during the assemblingoperation and until the nut is turned home on the sleeve l4. When thenut is screwed up tight it will obviously" clamp the shell l0 tightlyand rigidly between itself and the pulley, and toprevent anypossibility. of leakage at this point I preferably recess the face ofthe pulleyand insert a sealing gasket 20. 7

Within the sleeve i l there is rigidly mounted, as by press fitting, apair of bushings 2| and 22, the first oi which extends flush with anannular recess 23 in the motor side face of the pulley, at which pointit contacts a collar 24 that is L- shaped in cross section (Fig. 1) andbears against the shoulder 8 of the shaft 6. The outer periphery of ,thecollar 245 is smooth surfaced to' engage a sealing ring 25 mountedin therecess 23. A space 26 is preferably left between the bushings 2| and 22,ifv two bushings are used, although, as will be evident, it may bedesirable to use only one bushing with a length equal to the two shown.In either event the bushing 22 projects beyond the inner extremity ofthe sleeve M, as at" 21, to form a stop for an ilnpeller' shell ich ishoused within the section llia'ndfi op sesithe shell section ill withrespect tofwhich it 'isj'rotatable.

The impeller shell 28 has a flange 29 which is welded or otherwiserigidly secured upon the end of a tube or sleeve 30 which extends in toabutting contact with the collar 24. This 'sleeve 30 has a section ofits interior threaded so as to cut in a direction such that rotation ofthe driving parts will tend to tighten rather than release or unscrewany of the. assembly elements.

The impeller 28 is provided with the usual impeller blades or vanes 3!the curved edge of which contact and are welded to theimpeller plate.with opposite or inner edges free or exposed. Similarly, the drivenshell section Ill is provided with blades or vanes 32. which are weldedor otherwise rigidly secured to the inner surfaces, and in opposedcooperating position with blades 3 I, there being a narrowmargin' ofclearance between the adjacent parallel edges of the blades of the twosections.

.two impeller units28 and i8.

The holes 88 are also employed in attaching and .detaching the couplingassembly with respect to the motor shaft as will now be set forth.

with the parts all properly formed the sleeve of the shell section II isH of the pulley I8 is inserted through the central opening of the shellI8 to which the nut l8 has previously been positioned and held by thelugs IS. The impeller 28 including the sleeve 88 is then put in placewith the sleeve being positioned into the bushings 2| and 22. The outershell or section II is then properly located with respect to the sectionI8 and is theresweated, spot welded, or otherwise rigidly secured at theseam l2 and about the entire periphery of the unit.

- After the collar 24 has then been placed upon the shaft 1 and upagainst the shoulder 8 and the sealing ring 25 is properly inserted inthe annular recess 28 of the pulley, the entire assembly is then placedupon the reduced end portion 1 of the shaft and the sleeve 88 is screwedup tightly on th'e'threads 8 and against the collar 24. The sleeve 88 isrotated by removing the short screws 84 and temporarily replacing themwith longer screws that will extend into the holes 85 of the impellerplate 28. By using longer screws in this mannerthe two plates H and 28are not only rigidly secured together but will prevent any damage to thethreads in the holes 88. such as would occur if th'readless pins orobjects were inserted in the registering holes 88 and- 85 with theplates 28 and H locked together it will be apspect to the casing |8-|and a predetermined amount of fluid is then inserted in one of the holes88 after which both of these holes are sealed closed by the use ofshorter screws 84. when the coupling is idle the driving fluid will restin the bottom of the casing and will of course find its level within thecurved periphery extremities of the casing, as well as th impeller 8|.When the motor is then started it will rotate the tube or sleeve 38 withthe shaft 6 and such rotation will carry with it the impeller plate 28and its radial blades 8|. As previously noted, the sleeve 88 is free torotate within the bushings 2| and 22 as such bushings have an internaldiameter that will permit such rotation but since the'bushings aretightly fitted in the pulley l8 and its extended hub |4 those parts willrotate in unison and together with the nut i8 and the driven blades 82of the section l8. As the impeller 28 is thus rotated by the motor shaftits blades 8| will pick up the fluid in the bottom of the casing andcentrifugally actuate it radially outwardly where it will bedeflectedinto circulating engagement with the blades 82 to impartrotational movement to 4 rotate the pulley l8 and thus flexibly transmitrotational power to any device which is belt connected to the pulley.

Should there be any occasion for replacing or repairing the bushings 2|and 22 or the pulley proper, it is a simple matter to first remove theunit from the motor shaft by an operation reverse to that just describedand thereupon the parts l8, l4, 2| and 22 may be removed by merelyunscrewing the pulley and its tubular hub from the nut I8. After theproper repair or replacement has taken place, it is a simple matter toagain assemble the parts by merely slipping the sleeve l4 and itsbushings over the tube 88 and then turning it inwardly within thethreads I! until the pulley again tightly fits up azainst the outer faceof the casing section I8.

In the modification shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5 I- have illustrated adesign in which it is unnecessary to individually and separately fastenthe edges of the impeller blades to their respective shell members.

Thus in Fig. 3 it will be seen that the blades 82a of the driven sectionare punched out and bent up from a separate plate 88 and this plate isthen merely spot-welded as at 81 to the shell section l8. Similarly, asin Figs. 4 and 5, the blades 8|a are formed integrally with and from aplate 88 which is spot welded, as at 88, to the impeller plate 28.Although this method of mounting the blades requires slightly morematerial thanwhere individually mounted blades are used, it is believedthat there will be relatively greater economy in time, labor, andultimate cost involved in manufacturing the complete unit.

It is understood that suitable modifications may be made in thestructure as disclosed, provided tending into the casing, threaded meanson the hub for rigidly securing the casing with respect svfchmodifications come within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.Having now therefore fullyv illustrated and described my invention, whatI claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is: 1

1. A fluid drive device adapted to be mounted on a motor shaft or thelike, comprising a, fluid retaining casing, a power'transmitting elementdisposed on the motor side of the casing and having a tubular hubextending into the casing to support the latter, a bearing sleeve withinthe hub, an impeller mounted upon the end of the sleeve remote from themotor, and blades carried within the casing, at the motor side thereof,for cooperation with the impeller to thereby translate sleeve andimpeller rotation to the casing, hub.

- and power transmitting element, said tubular hub being threaded andhaving a nut thereon for engaging the inner surface of the motor side ofthe casing to rigidly clamp it against the power transmitting element.

2. A fluid drive device comprising a circular fluid retaining casinghaving internal fluid actuable blades. a power transmitting member atone side of the casing and having a tubular hub exto the powertransmitting member, a bushing secured in the hub, a sleeve slidable androtatable in the bushing, and an impeller mounted on the sleeve.

3. A fluid drive device comprising circular fluid retaining casinghaving internal fluid actuable blades, a power transmitting member atone side of the casing and having a tubular hub extending into thecasing, threaded means on the hub for rigidly securing the casing withrespect to the power transmitting member, a bushing secured in the hub,a sleeve slidable and rotatable in the bushing, and an impeller mountedon the sleeve, said sleeve being internally threaded whereby it may bescrewed onto a threaded power shaft.

4. A fluid drive device comprising a. circular fluid retaining casinghaving internal fluid actuable blades, a, power transmitting member atone side of the casing and having a tubular hub extending into thecasing, threaded means on the hub for rigidly securing the casing withrespect to the power transmitting member, a bushing secured in the hub,a sleeve slidable and rotatable in the bushing, and an impeller mountedon the sleeve, said sleeve being internally threaded whereby it may bescrewed onto a threaded power shaft, the parts being so constructed thatNumber when the sleeve is removed from the power shaft the powertransmitting means may be turned with respect to the casing to unscrewthe hub from said threaded means to remove the hub and bushing from thecasing and sleeve.

5. A fluid drive device comprising a circular fluid retaining casinghaving internal fluid actuable blades, a power transmitting member atone side of the casing and having a tubular hub extending into thecasing, threaded means on the 6 hub for rigidly securing the casing withrespect to the power transmitting member, a bushing secured in the hub,a sleeve slidable and rotatable in the bushing, means for preventingrotation of the threaded means with respect to the casing duringassemblage, and a bladed impeller mounted on the sleeve.

' GEORGE C. FIEIDS.

REFERENCES crrnn The'following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date

